Ayao Komatsu never expected Haas to start the Formula 1 season as strongly as they have but is just as shocked at how ‘mediocre’ one rival team has been so far in 2024.
Team owner Gene Haas made a change at the helm of his squad for the first time during the winter. Komatsu stepped up from his position as Haas’ director of engineering and replaced Guenther Steiner. It followed Haas enduring their second-worst season in Formula 1 to date.
Only in 2021 when Haas failed to score a single point had they endured a worse season than in 2023. Haas finished both seasons 10th and last in the constructors’ championship. But an impressive start to 2024 has Haas sitting in seventh place following the first four Grand Prix.
Ayao Komatsu ‘didn’t believe’ Haas would make a ‘huge step’ forward
Komatsu admits Haas’ data did not indicate they would make such a leap up the standings to rank above Williams, Sauber and Alpine. Visa Cash App RB are even in sixth place with seven points so far. Only in 2018 when Haas achieved fifth have they ended a year in a higher spot.
Haas have even enjoyed more points-scoring finishes in the first four races of 2024 than the team sealed in 2023. Nico Hulkenberg only enjoyed one top-10 finish last year with his P7 in the Australian GP. Yet he took P10 in the 2024 Saudi Arabian GP and P9 in the Australian GP.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Haas F1 Team from team principal to Ferrari relationship
Hulkenberg also scored points with his P6 finish in the Sprint at the 2023 Austrian GP. While Kevin Magnussen scored all three of his points with P10 finishes in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, the Miami GP and the Singapore GP. The Dane also took P10 in the 2024 Australian GP.
Ayao Komatsu is stunned at how ‘mediocre’ Alpine have been in 2024
Yet while Haas’ form has positively surprised Komatsu, their team principal also admits that he never imagined Alpine having such a ‘mediocre’ start to 2024. The Renault-owned outfit rank last in the constructors’ championship so far this season, having not yet scored a point.
“The truth is that I knew our numbers and I didn’t believe that we would be able to take a huge step forward,” Komatsu has told Speedweek. “Especially not to seventh place in the constructors’ championship.
“Now, let’s be honest, who among us could have imagined that Alpine would look so mediocre at the start of the season?”
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Alpine realised they had huge problems during pre-season testing as the A524 is overweight and lacks downforce. Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have both since hauled their car to P13 finishes in the Saudi Arabian GP and the Australian GP respectively for Alpine’s best finishes.
Ocon also took P17 in the Bahrain GP, P16 in the Australian GP and P15 in the Japanese GP. While Gasly secured P18 in Sakhir, retired with a gearbox problem in Jeddah and took P16 at Suzuka. It marks a big step backwards for Alpine after being the sixth-best F1 team last year.
Alpine scored 120 points in 2023 with Gasly posting 62 for P11 in the drivers’ standings and Ocon sealing P12 with 58. Yet they sit in P19 and P18 respectively this year with only Sauber star Valtteri Bottas and Williams racer Logan Sargeant delivering inferior results this season.
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